Self-dumping wheelbarrow



Aug. 31, 1948. J. L. GoKl-:Y 2,448,216

f ISELF-DUMPING wHEmLBAow y2 sheets-sheet 1 Filed Jne 4, 1947 mnntoz John L. Gall/ey aufm/Mq ug 31, 1948- J. L.' GoKEY 2,448,216

SELF-DUMPING WHEELBARROW 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 4, 1947 John L. Haley to this general rdescription,

Patented Aug. 31, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE A SELF-mimmo wnEELBAnaow yJohn L. Gokcy, Coluinbua,'.h''iofl 'v v Application June 4, 1947, l'Serial No.- '752,408

1 omni. (ci. 29e- 3) My 'invention lrelates to ,wheelbarrowa and more specifically `to wheelbarrows of the, type having a pivotally supported -body adapted for upturning movement upon engagement of an associated brake mechanism with the wheel of the barrow to lcause'the body to dump its contents independently of manual dumping operations;

In the past, many wheel barrows, answering have been madeor proposed, but in many instances such priordevices were found to be impracticaL'primarily from the standpoint of'mechanical inefciency, and necessary highcost of manufacture and maintenance, due to the `relative complexity of the various structuralcomponents making possible the self-dumping feature. ItA follows therefore, that the primaryv invention is Vto generally-improve upon known functions of this type of 'wheelbarrow by providing a simplified' and rugged system of llevers for imparting dumping movement to the load-receiving body ofthe wheel vbarrow as ,Y the same is being pushed forwardly by the operator, without necessitating vthe lifting or :throwingover of the wheel barrow when dumping or yemptying .is desired f It isvanother object of myinvention to provide a self-dumping wheelbarrow .of the character described, which utilizes the forward momentum of the wheelbarrow, asthe sameis'being pushed forwardly by the operator,-to eifect the dumping or emptying of the'load-receiving body thereof,

thereby greatlyv reducing the'manual effort ambient to the ordinary type of wheel barrow.. Itis `a further object of this invention to provide-a wheelbarrow of theA type described, wherein the weight of the load-receiving body and the contentsl thereofis centered about the associated vground wheel of the wheelbarrow, whereby the manualV effort -of lifting and pushing the vehicle is greatly decreased, and may be accomplished in a facile'manner. 1 Y

These and various other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more readily apparent 'with a" better'` understanding of. the invention, the same'being had by reference to the' following description-and the'accompa'nying drawings' wherein: 1 1 Fig. 1 is aside elevational-viewv of a wheelbarrow formed in accordancewith the present invention;4 f. 1' -Fig.'2 is an en arged detail longitudinal vertical sectional viewy disclosing the brake Vreleasing mechanism associated with the wheelbarrowdisclosed'in Fig.- l. f a

aimor objective of my v Fig. 3 is a fragmentary detailed vertical sectional lview disclosing, thev latch mechanism in locking eng-agementfwith the rearward portion ofthe load-receiving body of the wheelbarrow;

Fig. V4 is a transverse vertical sectional View taken along the plane indicated by the .line l1-4 ofFig.2; .1. v Fig. 5 isa similar View taken along the line 5-5 of Fig.v2; i

Fig. 6 is a horizontalsectional views taken along the lineI-S of Fig. 4. i I

Referring now more-particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that the present invention makes use of substantially V-shaped frame Ii) which, as shown in the drawings, is preferably formed from a single lengthof tubular stock which is bent to a desired shape, and which` terminates at its rearward end in a pair or transversely spacedhandle membersk il. As shown particularlyvin Figs.V 1 and 5 of the drawings, the forward'portion of the frame lil is bent downwardly belowvthe body portion thereof, and to this portion :of the frame iswelded a pairof transversely registering axle receiving collars I2. An axle I3 is rotatably mounted within each of the collars, I2, and extends transversely between the downwardly bent portions of the frame to rotatably support a rubber-tired ground wheel I4. The intermediate portions of the sides of the frameare supported `by a pair of dependent V-shaped stands I5, the` latter being weldediat their upper ends to the under side of the tubular frame memberafand; serve, in conjunction with the ground wheel I4, to provide a tripod support forthe frame. v w

Disposed in longitudinall disposition above the frame. I0 is a cradle bed plate I6 formed at its side edges with A- downwardly turned nanges I1. Welded` to thehforwa-rd portion of the bed plate I6. are a pair ofdependent brackets I8, which, in turn are'welded at their lower ends to a pair of circular collars I9 rotatably carried uponzthe axle I3 at the outer side of eachof the bearing collars I2.- The respective ends ofv the axle I3 are providedwith cotter keyfasteners which prevent or limit transverse displacement of the axle with respect lto the collars I2-and I9. Welded, or otherwise suitably joined tothe upper suriaceioi` the bed plate i6, isa load-receiving body 2l), formed in -the usual configuration of a hopperbody, having' a bottom and' side walls. In thisv manner, itA will be seen that the ,bodyy secured to .the bed plate I6 is freeto swingin a limitedv vertical plane longitudinally of the framel aboutv the pivotal-connection betweenthe': de-

pendent brackets I8 and the transverse axis of the axle I3. A stop bar 2| is disposed between the two dependent brackets I8, and upon swinging movement of the body, engages the forward most portion of the frame I to limit the forward dumping or swinging movement of the body. At this point the forward portion of the hopper body extends substantially downwardly to allow the discharge of its contents through the forward end thereof by gravity.

Pivotally secured to the underside of the bed plate I6, substantially at the upwardly bent porbrackets 22, is a dependent and b'ifurcatec'i,link

23, which receives at its lower end a transversely disposed pivot pin 24. The pivot pin 24 in turn;

projecting lip 38 is, in turn, engageable with a cooperatively formed shoulder disposed intermediate the end of a release lever 40, which is carried `at its upper end by a shaft extending through and rotatably mounted in the brackets 32. This shaft 4I serves upon rotation to impart a swinging movement to the release lever 40 to eect disengagement between the lip 38 and the shoulder39, in order that the latch lever 34 may be free to swing about its pivot 33. The rotation of the shaft 4I is accomplished by means of a y linkage extending rearwardly of the frame I8, ti'on thereof, and means of al pair of and terminating in a manually opera-ble release handle--42,disposed above the right-hand handle `member I I of the frame. A second contractile vvs`1firing"43 is=interposed between and connected pivotally receives a bifuncated and rearwardly4 f extending arm which carries at its forward,

end an arcuate brake shoe 26 in spaced relation to the periphery of the rubber tire ofthe ground wheel I4. This brake shoe 26 may be advanta- 'geously faced with a resilient yieldable material,v and when the same is swung forwardly into ,en-y gagement with the periphery of tl'letire of the ground wheel, frictional engagement will obtain, and upon rotation of the ground wheel, the brake shoe will be carried in an arcuate path, and at the same time will force the pivotally mounted body forwardly in an upturning dumping movement. The brake shoe arm 25'extends rearwardly beneath the body 20, and is pivotally connected at its rearward end to Va second pivot pin 21, which in 'turn is carried by a second 'similarly secured dependent link 28; Connected at either side of the pin 21, are the rearward ends of a pair of contractile springs 29, which extend diagonally beneath the bed plate I6,` and are secured at their forward ends to the pivot pin ex tending between the angleA bracketsv 22 rigidly carried at the bottom of the'bed plate. By this system of leverage, it will be seen that thev brake shoe arm 25 and its associated brake shoe will be urged forwardly intoengagement wi-th the pe-V riphery of the ground wheel I 4,' the same being free to pivot at its'respec'tive connections with the links 23 and 28, and 'at the sameV timey the link 28 will be urged in a forward direction by the two contractile springs. Disposed between the dependent links "28 and rotatably carried upon the'pin 21, is an anti-friction roller 30.

Disposed below the rearward portion Iof the lever system, and `rigidly carried by the forward arm of the stands -I 5, is a substantially rectanguopposite arm 37 disposed at substantially a right-v an'gle to the arm 35, and termin-ating at its outer end in a second right-angular bend andan outwardly projecting locking lip' 38.. This outwardly withthe shorterarm 3'! of the latch member 34 and the upper portion of the release lever 40, and'normally serves to urge the lip 38 into engagement with the cooperative shoulder 39 in order to maintain holding engagement between the two, and upon operation of the releaseA handle 42, the lever 4D vis rocked against the action of this `contractile spring 43. Swinging movement of the'flever 40 is limited by means of a stop 44 positionedl in 'abutting' relationv to the lever and carried between the two brackets 32. Itwill be seen, inview of the relation between the latch lever Stand the release lever 40, that any tendencyor'rocking ofthe latch lever 34 in a clock wise direction, is,v prevented byfnature of the abutting and interlocking'engagement with the shoulder 39.' In ,thismanneiz thelatch lever-34 is held substantially rigid, andV due to'its inclined upperarm 35 serves to hold the roller 30, andco-nsequently thebrake shoe 26; in a backward position against'the action of the contractile vspring .29. Further, by nature of the arcuate recess 3B, the link-28and its roller 30 are securely held by the latch lever to secure the rearward portion-#of the body to the frame and prevent pivotal movement of the former, until released from the latch.` It `will be seen, that as the release lever4ll-` is swung to a position out of engagement with the` abutting lip 38 of the latch lever, the latter is free to pivot under action oithe contractile springs-29, whichA overcome the relatively smallerl resilient force imparted by the secondcontr'actile spring 43, thereby allowing the brakev shoe 26 to engage the periphery of the groundwheel I4 to impart an upswinging movement to the 'associatedbodm and av consequent freeing of thev depen-dent link 28 and-its associated'roller 30 from withinthe arcuate recess formed at the backside oi' the latch lever 34.

In ope-ration, the load-receiving 'body 28 of the wlieelabarrowv is ii'lled yor loaded, with the vaseociated Alatch system in its locked condition, whereby the brake shoe 26 is disengaged from the `periphery oi thelground wheel I4,l and fthe rearwardly disposed depend-ent lin-ky 28 is securely held within the latch lever 34; vUpon till-ing of the body. 'the wheelbanow is pushed to its des- .tination7 and when dumping or'emptyi-nlg. of the body' is desired, the l:manually operable release handle '42 is squeezed inwardly upon its vas-sociated handle Il -to disengageth-e releaselever -40 from its holding engagement with-stheassloclated latch lever 3'4, whereby the contractile springs 29 force the latch lever 34 yin a clockwise direction about its pivot 33, thereby lallowing the brake shoe 26 to engagev the `periphery of the xground wheel I4, at fthe same time' freeing the dependent link 28 disposed at the rearward underside of the load-receiving body. lAt this time, due to the irictional engagement between the brake shoe 26 and the periphery of the rubber-tired ground wheel I4, the body will ibe swung upwardly about its pivotal connection with the axle of the frame, to dump its contents by gravity Ifrom the torward portion of the body. It will be manifest, that rotation w-ithin the ground wheel I4 is necessary in order that the brake shoe may [be carried in an arcuate path to effect the necessary dumping `movement. Alfter the contents of the body has been dumped, the body may be returned to its locked lposition by pulling b-ackwardly upon the wheelbarrow thus causing the break shoe to swing in the opposite direction to consequently engage the rearward dependent link 28 with the latch lever 34, as the same is now held in its locked position with respect to the lever 4B, these latter members being returned to Itheir original positions by nature of the contractile spring 43 upon release of the associated :handle member 42.

In view oi the lforegoing it v ll be seen that the present invention provides a useful and mechanically eicient wheelbarrow capable, upon operation of an associated release devi-ce, of dumping emptying the contents of the associated load-receiving ibody forwardly oci the barrow, and after ldumping operation-s, the body may loe returned to its original locked condition and is rigidly held to the associated .frame Mor subsequent load-receiving operations. The invention is further characterized by its rugged construction, its ease of operation, and its economy Aof manufacture.

While 4a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been disclosed in detail, it will be manif-est that various modications to `details of construction and design may be accomplished without departing from ing claim:

the scope of the tollow- I claim:

A self -dumping wheelbarrow comprising a substantially V-shaped frame terminating at its rearwand end lin ya pair of transversely spaced handle members, a transversely dispo-sed axle carried by said frame substantially at its forward end, a ground wheel rotatably carried by said axle, 'a load-receiving body disposed longitudinally above said trame and `pivotal-ly secured lthereto substantially at the ends of said `axle yfor limited swinging mov-ement in a longitudinal plane With respect to the frame, a brake shoe piwotallly secured to said body at its underside and engageable with the peripheral surface of slaid wheel, a link Apivotally secured to the `underside ci said body in rearwardly spaced relation to sai-d brake shoe, an arm joining said link with said brake shoe, a 'spring disposed between said body and sai-d link lior normally urging said brake shoe into engagement with the peripheral surface of said wheel, a latch carried by said frame .and engageable with said link for holdingr the body to sai-d frame against pivotal movement and :for holding said brake shoe out 'ci engagement with said wheel, `and a manually operable lever disposed on one of said handle members for disengaging said latch lfrom said link.

J OHN L. GO'KEY.

Date Oct. 27, 1885 Aug. 21, 1894 

